Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy has been updated and has an effective date of March 25, 2018.

This Privacy Policy describes our practices regarding the collection, use and disclosure of information collected by PLS Financial Services, Inc. (“PLS”) through our web sites, applications, and other online services that post or include a link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “PLS Platforms”). This Privacy Policy only covers information collected on the PLS Platforms and does not cover any information collected at any PLS store, other web site or elsewhere by PLS (unless specifically stated). For information regarding our privacy practices for information collected in connection with our financial services and products, please visit https://pls247.com/privacy-notice to review our financial services Privacy Notice.

Please review this Privacy Policy carefully. In addition, please review the Terms of Use, which govern your use of the PLS Platforms.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Information We Collect and How We Use It

Information You Provide Us

Information We Collect Automatically

Cookies and Local Storage

Web Beacons

Embedded Scripts

Information Third Parties Provide About You and Social Media Interactions

Our Use of Information Collected Through the PLS Platforms

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

When You Request That We Share Your Information

Third Parties Providing Services on Our Behalf

Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions

Employment Applications

Administrative and Legal Reasons

Business Transfers

Third Party Advertising and Analytics Companies

How We Respond to “Do Not Track” Signals

Changing Your Information

Your Choices

Third Party Content, Sites and Devices

Security

United States Jurisdiction; Consent to Transfer

Changes to the Privacy Policy

Your California Privacy Rights

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND HOW WE USE IT

Information You Provide Us
We may ask you to provide personally identifiable information, which is information that identifies you as a specific identified individual, such as your name, phone number, or e-mail address (collectively, “Personal Information”) and demographic information (for example, your gender, age or similar information). We may also collect your Social Security Number and financial information, such as, credit card number and bank account information, in order to process transactions through the PLS Platforms. Certain features may also collect other information about you, such as your preferences and interests. If we combine demographic, preference-related or similar information with the Personal Information we collect, we will treat that combined information as Personal Information under this Privacy Policy. We may also de-identify Personal Information, turning it into non-personal information. This is sometimes accomplished using a mathematical process (commonly known as a hash function) to convert information into a code. The code does not identify you directly, but it may be used to connect your activity and interests.

The PLS Platforms are not intended for use by anyone younger than the age of 18 and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children younger than age 18. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected Personal Information from a user who is younger than age 18, we will delete the information from our active databases.

Information We Collect Automatically
We and third-party advertising companies and service providers may use a variety of technologies that automatically or passively collect certain information whenever you visit any PLS Platform or otherwise interact with us or our content (“Usage Information”). Usage Information may include the hardware model, browser, and operating system you are using, the URL or advertisement that referred you to the PLS Platform you are visiting, all of the areas within the PLS Platforms that you visit, your time zone, location information, and mobile network (if applicable), among other information. In addition, we automatically collect your IP address, mobile device ID or other unique identifier (“Device Identifier”) for any computer, mobile phone or other device you use to access our PLS Platforms. In some cases, we may directly collect location information through your device. You may be able to turn off the collection of location information through the settings on your device. Usage Information is generally non-identifying, but if PLS associates it with you as a specific and identifiable person, PLS treats it as Personal Information.

The methods that may be used to collect Usage Information include the following:

Cookies and Local Storage
Cookies and local storage are data files placed within a browser on a device when it is used to visit a PLS Platform. Certain web browsers and browser add-ons, such as Adobe Flash, may provide additional local data storage mechanisms. For example, a Flash cookie is a data file placed on a device via the Adobe Flash plugin. Cookies and local storage can be used for a variety of purposes, including to store a unique identifier for your device that recognizes your device as you visit the PLS Platforms or other web sites or online services and to remember your preferences. Most browsers provide you with the ability to disable or decline cookies and local storage. You will need to check your browser’s settings for further information. For more information about Flash and the privacy choices Adobe offers, visit http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html. If you choose to disable cookies or to adjust your Flash privacy settings on your device, some features of a PLS Platform may not function properly.

Web Beacons
Small graphic images or other web programming code called web beacons (also known as “1x1 GIFs” or “clear GIFs”), may be included in our web pages and e-mail messages. Web beacons or similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without limitation, to count visitors to a PLS Platform, to monitor how users navigate a PLS Platform, to count how many e-mails that were sent were actually opened or to count how many particular links were actually viewed.

Embedded Scripts

An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with a PLS Platform, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded into your device from your web server or a third party service provider, is active only while you are connected to a PLS Platform, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.

In addition, we may use a variety of other technologies that collect similar information for security and fraud detection purposes.

Information Third Parties Provide About You and Social Media Interactions
PLS may receive information about you from third parties, including business partners and data providers.

The PLS Platforms may permit or facilitate interactions with an interactive third-party website or service ("Social Media"), such as enabling you to “like” or “share” content. If you choose to share content or otherwise post information from or via the PLS Platforms to Social Media, that information may be public and the third party may have access to information about you and your use of the PLS Platforms. You may also choose to participate on Social Media in a way that connects that third-party service with the PLS Platforms (such as posting to one of our pages on a Social Media site or signing into the PLS Platforms with your credentials from another website or service). Doing so may allow us to collect (or the third party to share) information about you, including without limitation Personal Information, your Device Identifier, and which pages you are visiting on a PLS Platform. We may also receive information about you if other users of Social Media give us access to their profiles and you are one of their “connections.” The information we collect is subject to this Privacy Policy. The information collected and stored by the third party remains subject to the third party’s privacy practices, including without limitation whether the third party continues to share information with us, the types of information shared, and your choices with regard to what is visible to others on that third-party website or service. The third party may allow you to remove the application or feature, in which case we will no longer collect information about you through the application or feature, but we may retain the information previously collected.

We may combine the information we receive from those other sources with information we collect through the PLS Platforms. In those cases, we will apply this Privacy Policy to the combined information.

OUR USE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THE PLS PLATFORMS
PLS may use information collected through the PLS Platforms, including Personal Information, to: (1) process your transactions; (2) recognize you across the PLS Platforms and across devices; (3) tailor content recommendations and offers we display to you, both on the PLS Platforms and elsewhere online; (4) allow you to participate in features we offer or to provide related customer service; (5) provide you with information, products, or services that you have requested or that we think may interest you, and to send you special offers from us, our advertisers, or third-party business partners; (6) investigate and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities or activities that violate our policies; (7) process your registration, including verifying your information is active and valid; (8) improve the PLS Platforms or our services and for internal business purposes; (9) contact you with regard to your use of the PLS Platforms or any PLS service and, in our discretion, changes to the PLS Platform policies; (10) facilitate your job search via the PLS Platforms and prepare related governmental and internal statistics reports; and (11) for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your Personal Information or otherwise with your consent. We may use non-personal information, including information that has been de-identified to make inferences about you and offers and content you may be interested in, to serve you with relevant advertising, and to allow others to do so.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
PLS may share non-personally identifiable information, including information that has been de-identified, aggregated user statistics, or a PLS identification or transaction number, with third parties in our discretion. We do not share your Personal Information with third parties for those third parties’ own direct marketing purposes unless you consent (opt-in or opt-out) to such sharing. California Residents, please see below for additional information on “Your California Privacy Rights.”

We may share the information we have collected about you, including Personal Information, as disclosed at the time you provide your information, as described in this Privacy Policy, with your consent, and in the following circumstances:

When You Request That We Share Your Information
We may share information when you request that we do so. For example, you may be presented with an opportunity to receive information and/or marketing offers from one or more third parties. If you agree at that time to have your Personal Information shared, your Personal Information will be disclosed to that third party (or parties) and will be subject to their privacy practices. Or, you may choose to interact with a third party application or feature, through which information about you is shared. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. If you later decide that you no longer want to receive communications from a third party, you will need to contact that third party directly.

Third Parties Providing Services on Our Behalf
We may share information about you with third-party vendors to enable them to perform services on our behalf. Additionally, we may share various information relating to our users and fraudulent or potentially fraudulent activities with our fraud prevention and similar vendors, and they will use this information to help us and their other clients prevent fraudulent and illegal transactions.

Sweepstakes, Contests and Promotions
We may offer sweepstakes, contests, or other promotions (any, a “Promotion”), that may require registration. By participating in a Promotion, you are agreeing to the provisions, conditions, or official rules that govern that Promotion, which may contain specific requirements of you (including, without limitation and except where prohibited by law, allowing the sponsor(s) of the Promotion to use your name, voice, likeness, or other indicia of persona in advertising or marketing materials). If you choose to enter a Promotion, Personal Information may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of such Promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, as required by law or permitted by the Promotion’s terms or official rules (such as on a winners list).

Employment Applications
If you apply for a job through the PLS Platforms, we, or a human resources company providing services on our behalf, may ask you to provide self-identifying information (such as veteran status, gender and ethnicity) in conjunction with laws and regulations enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”), and similar state and local regulatory agencies. Providing self-identifying information is voluntary, but if you do provide us with that information, we may submit it to the EEOC, the OFCCP and similar state and local regulatory agencies for business-related purposes, including responding to information requests, fulfilling regulatory reporting requirements and defending against employment related complaints. Note that the job application site linked from the PLS Platforms may be operated by a third party and your initial application and inquiry may be governed by their privacy policy.

Administrative and Legal Reasons
We may also transfer and disclose user information to third parties: (i) in the event we are required to respond to subpoenas or other legal process or if in our opinion such disclosure is required by law; (ii) at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation; or (iii) to protect and/or defend the Terms of Use or other policies applicable to a PLS Platform or our services or to protect the personal safety, rights, property or security of PLS, our customers, or a third party. We may also use Device Identifiers, including IP addresses, to identify users, and may do so in cooperation with copyright owners, Internet service providers, wireless service providers or law enforcement agencies in our discretion.

Business Transfers
PLS may share Personal Information with its parent, or its subsidiaries and affiliates, primarily for business and operational purposes. PLS reserves the right to disclose and transfer all information related to a PLS Platform, including Personal Information: (i) to a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of a PLS Platform or applicable database; or (ii) in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, restructuring, bankruptcy, the sale of certain of PLS’s ownership interests, assets, or both, or other company change, including, without limitation, during the course of any due diligence process.

THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS COMPANIES
PLS works with network advertisers, ad agencies and other advertising partners to serve PLS ads online. We also use analytics providers to provide us with information regarding the use of the PLS Platforms and the effectiveness of our advertisements. These third parties may set and access their own tracking technologies on your device (including cookies and web beacons), and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you, including Usage Information. Some of these parties may collect Personal Information over time when you visit the PLS Platforms or other online websites and services. We may share non-personal information, including information that has been de-identified, Usage Information, and location information, with third party advertising companies, analytics providers and other third parties, including for the purpose of serving you more relevant ads.

We may use a variety of companies to serve our advertisements. Some of these companies are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) or the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising and you may want to visit the following webpages, which provide “opt-out” mechanisms for participating companies: http://networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp or http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. You may also be able to opt-out from interest based advertising on your mobile device through your mobile device settings.

HOW WE RESPOND TO “DO NOT TRACK” SIGNALS
Note that your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to websites and online services you visit. Like many websites and online services, the PLS Platforms do not alter their practices when they receive a “Do Not Track” from a visitor’s browser. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit www.allaboutdnt.com.

CHANGING YOUR INFORMATION
You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the information you submit to us, such as your contact information provided as part of registration. If you wish to modify Personal Information that you have provided to us in the past, please contact us at PLSCustomerComment@pls247.com or 1-855-856-9757. Certain PLS Platforms may allow you to correct or update certain Personal Information you have provided. Note that when you edit your Personal Information or change your preferences on a PLS Platform, information that you remove may persist internally for PLS’s administrative purposes or within backup media.

YOUR CHOICES
PLS offers you the following choices with regard to the information it collects through the PLS Platforms:

You may opt out of receiving marketing e-mails by following the opt-out instructions provided to you in those e-mails. Please note that we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to your account or use of the PLS Platforms or PLS services, such as administrative and services announcements. These transactional account messages may be unaffected if you choose to opt out from marketing e-mails.

If you sign up to receive SMS or MMS messages from PLS, you may unsubscribe from any SMS or MMS messages received by replying “STOP”.

With your consent, we may send promotional and non-promotional push notifications or alerts to your mobile device, and may in some cases do so based on your device’s physical proximity to a beacon. You can elect to stop receiving those messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your mobile device.

For information regarding your choices in connection with the information we collect in connection with our financial services and products, please visit https://pls247.com/privacy-notice to review our financial services Privacy Notice.

THIRD PARTY CONTENT, SITES & DEVICES
The PLS Platforms may contain content that is served by someone else or links to third-party content or web sites that PLS does not control. The third-party operators and content providers may send their own cookies to your device, they may independently collect data or solicit Personal Information, and may or may not have their own published privacy policies. PLS is not responsible for the privacy practices employed by any third party.

SECURITY
PLS takes commercially reasonable steps to protect and secure Personal Information. However, no data transmission over the Internet, by wireless transmission or any electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please note that we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information we collect, and you use the PLS Platforms and our services and provide us with your information at your own risk.

UNITED STATES JURISDICTION; CONSENT TO TRANSFER

PLS is based in the United States and the PLS Platforms are controlled and operated by PLS from the United States of America. This Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, and the information we collect is governed exclusively by United States law. PLS makes no representation that this Privacy Policy or the practices described in it comply with the laws of any other territory. Visitors who use the PLS Platforms and reside outside the United States do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. By accessing or using a PLS Platform or providing us with any information, you consent to the transfer, processing and storage of your information in and to the United States and other countries, jurisdictions in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen.

CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY
PLS reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice and will notify you of material changes by posting the changed or modified Privacy Policy on the PLS Platforms. We may also provide notice to you in other ways in our discretion, such as through contact information you have provided. Any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy unless otherwise specified and your continued use of the any of the PLS Platforms after the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy will constitute your consent to those changes. However, PLS will not make material changes to how it treats previously collected Personal Information about you without providing notice and giving you the chance to consent (opt-in or opt-out). Note, however, that you may need to consent to our new policies in order to continue to use the PLS Platforms and our services.

YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS
California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits residents of California to request certain details about how their personal information has been shared during the calendar year with third parties for those third-parties’ own direct marketing purposes, unless the business permits California residents to opt in to, or opt out of, this type of sharing. PLS qualifies for this alternative option. As noted above, we will not share personal information about you with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes if you do not opt-in, or if you choose to opt-out, at the time PLS offers you that choice.

If you are a California resident and you have questions about our practices with respect to sharing personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes and your ability to exercise choice, please write us at:

You must put the statement “Your California Privacy Rights” in the subject field of your email or in the address line of your envelope. You must include your name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.